A nurse from the Ugandan capital, Kampala, died after having contacted the very contagious hemorrhagic fever.
Uganda has confirmed an epidemic of the Ebola virus in Kampala, its capital and the death of a nurse, said the Ministry of Health.
The victim, who died Wednesday in a Kampala hospital, was a 32 -year -old man, journalists Diana Atwine, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health, told journalists on Thursday.
He asked for treatment in various facilities, especially in a public hospital in Mbale, 240 km (150 miles) east of Kampala near the border with Kenya, she said.
“The patient experienced a multi-organization failure and succumbed to Mulago’s National Reference Hospital Disease on January 29. Post Mortem samples have confirmed Sudan Ebola (strain) virus disease, “the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
This is the first death of Ebola confirmed by Uganda since 2023.
At least 44 people, including 30 health officers, who came into contact with the nurse are traced in order to contain the potential spread of the very contagious virus, said the ministry.
He added that a vaccination reader for all the deceased contacts will start immediately.
Atwine said health authorities are “in full control of the situation”, urging Ugandans to report suspicious cases.
An epidemic of MarburgWho is similar to Ebola, was declared last week in neighboring Tanzania.
Rwanda, which also borders Uganda, has just come out of an epidemic of Marburg.
A contact tracing campaign can be difficult because Kampala is a city crowded with more than 4 million people. It is also a bottleneck for trafficking to South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and other countries.
Ebola, a highly contagious hemorrhagic fever, is transmitted by contact with infected fluids and tissues. Symptoms include headache, vomiting, muscle pain and bleeding.
In recent years, Ugandan authorities have used laboratory tests, tracing contacts and other techniques to master Ebola epidemics.
Uganda has undergone an epidemic for the last time late 2022who killed 55 of the 143 infected people. The deceased included six health workers.
The nation of East Africa has experienced nine epidemics of viral disease since 2000.
